I am a criminal.
No, I don't have any warrants out for my arrest, but I'm a criminal nonetheless.
My problem, you see, is that I prefer to ride a bicycle than drive my car. In fact, my car will sit in my parking space for months at a time, not using a drop of oil, while I literally wear out my bicycle during my daily commute to work (or running errands, or going to the movies, or visiting friends).
Why does this make me a criminal? Because I've been known to cut across parking lots, go the wrong way down one-way streets, roll through stop signs, even ride on sidewalks. And I do this systematic lawbreaking on a daily basis. Why do I flaunt the law like I do? Because the law, as it applies to bikes, doesn't make sense. For instance:
Bicycle riders on public streets have the same rights and responsibilities as automobile drivers. Cyclists are part of the normal traffic flow and are entitled to share the road with other drivers.
And guess what else? I also have the right to commit suicide, but I'm not planning on exercising that right either. If I was in the mood to commit suicide I would follow your Rules Of The Road
I've managed to ride a bicycle nearly every day in a dense, urban area, usually without a helmet, for 15 years. And during that time I've gotten in exactly one accident with a car (which wasn't serious). The reason for my success is simple: I realize that when I am on a bicycle that I am not a car, despite what the Rules Of The Road say. The Rules Of The Road are superseded by the Rules Of Survival.
Rules Of Survival
Rule #1: Any collision between a bicyclist and an automobile will be won by the latter.
Rule #2: Most drivers are not your enemy, but it only takes a single asshole driver to crush your body under their SUV. Therefore, if you want to stay alive then you must assume that all drivers are capable of being that asshole.
Rule #3: When you are on a bicycle you are not a car. Bike riders should not act like they are driving a car anymore than a car driver should act like he/she is flying an airplane.
Rule #4: Your first job as a human being is to survive. All Rules Of The Road should be ignored that interfere with the Rules Of Survival.
And that brings up a point that the Rules Of The Road seem to ignore: bicyclist are a lot more like pedestrians than they are like drivers. A collision between a bicyclist and almost anything else will more resemble a skateboarder or roller skater running into something than an automobile collision. So why treat bicyclist like cars if they don't resemble cars? It makes as much sense as drug laws treating marijuana the same as heroin.
And that brings me back to why I'm a criminal. I don't use my bicycle like a car because it isn't like a car. My bike more resembles a skateboard than a car, and skateboarders wouldn't dream of riding in the middle of traffic (unless they have a death wish). That's why bikes and cars need to be separated in the same way that they do in most European cities.
Organized Coincidence
I moved to San Francisco on the same day as the 2nd Critical Mass event in 1992.
After Critical Mass at The Zeitgeist circa December 1992
For those of you who still don't know what Critical Mass is, it is a regular (usually monthly), rolling demonstration of self-propelled commuters that generally protest a society that prefers environmentally-destructive automobiles over other types of cleaner transportation.
However, it isn't that simple. Critical Mass has no official leaders, no organizational sponsors, no single political statement, stand or agenda. It rarely has an designated protest route. It often has participants riding skateboards, inline skates, and even unicycles. Often you will see customized bikes and people wearing costumes as if they were at a parade rather than a demonstration. In fact, the only consistent thing about it is that it is normally made up of bicyclists and they have an agreed upon time and location to meet. Nothing else is for certain.
Critical Mass started in San Francisco in 1992 and is now in at least 325 cities on every continent in the world (except Antartica...yet). It has inspired books, documentaries, and civil rights court cases. Critical Mass in San Francisco is largely a product of the San Francisco Bicycle Messengers. Going all the way back to the late 1970's, bicycle messengers were considered "crazy", and at the time they were often punkers. Because they shared the narrow and crowded streets of downtown San Francisco with huge MUNI buses, streets that were never designed for the two to coexist, there were inevitable conflicts. When a 4 ton bus has a conflict with a 30 pound bicycle the results are predictable, and a lot of bicycle messengers got killed over the years.
You can find web sites with good information about Critical Mass here, and here.
With the growing size and popularity, and because of the lack of an organizational body, Critical Mass has never once applied for a protest permit or advanced police notification. This has increasingly led to confrontations, both with the police and with drivers. The most notable examples are:
- The July 1997, one month after Mayor Willie Brown declared that he was going to "fix" the Critical Mass ride. This led to the police closing off an entire block and arresting everyone, including people just walking down the sidewalks. 105 were arrested, but all charges were dropped. The only thing it accomplished was to get even more people out to ride in Critical Mass. Bicyclists in San Francisco have more political influence than ever.
- The August 2004 Critical Mass ride in New York coincided with the Republican National Convention. NYPD arrests 250 CM'ers for blocking traffic and impound their bikes. It required several levels of court appeals before judges ruled that bikes can't be stolen from their owners if they haven't been charged with a crime.
Months later NYC then tried to stop Critical Mass altogether by saying they couldn't ride with a permit from The City. More riders were arrested and their bikes confiscated. This law was ruled unconstitutional.
Inevitably Critical Mass, like any demonstration, is going to inconvenience some people. That is unavoidable. A demonstration that doesn't get in someone's way is useless and not worth the trouble.
In some cases Critical Mass riders bring trouble upon themselves. There are a few CM'ers that want to tie up traffic and and confront drivers. This is the wrong approach, especially when you consider how stressed out drivers already are. The rides are usually timed for Friday afternoon, when drivers are most strung out from a long week.
For instance, I've seen a woman break down in tears, telling a police officer that she's been stranded "for hours" because of the protest. In fact, it took about 5 minutes for all the bikes to ride past her, but maybe to her it was "hours".
Which brings me to the reason why I prefer to ride a bike instead of drive my car. For the lady above, any delay in her commute drive is enough to bring on tears. Yet, during my commute, its not unusual to get smiles and kind words from other bicyclists. When is the last time that a car driver has waved more than a single finger at you during your commute? Bicyclists, OTOH, are generally a happy bunch who make comments to strangers like, "Great day for a ride, huh?" and "Cool bike."
I don't ride because it is an environmentally friendly thing to do (although I am a tree-hugger). I don't ride because it is a healthy thing to do (although I need the exercise).
I ride my bicycle because it makes me happy. At the end of a long day at work there is nothing better than to get on my bike and take a long, sweaty ride through the park. By the time I get home I'm refreshed and awake.
I feel sorry for those people who have to commute in their cars.